5 overlooked original games based on media franchises

Creative freedom has resulted in countless games that set up developers' own takes on established media formats. From Telltale's The Walking Dead to Eidos Montreal and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, we've seen exciting offerings in that sector. In fact, Avalanche Software's upcoming Hogwarts Legacy also promises more from where that came from.

Here are some more similar titles that don't get the credit they deserve. They are listed in no specific order.

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These games excel at capturing the essence of the format they're based on

1) Blair Witch

Bloober Team's 2019 first-person horror surprised gamers when it dropped out of the blue. It takes place after the events of the iconic 1999 movie The Blair Witch Project. Accompanied by his trusty dog Bullet, officer Ellis Lynch delves into the creepy Black Hills Forest in search of a missing kid.

Players explore the numerous locales of the forest armed with little more than a flashlight and engage in set-pieces against mysterious supernatural and cultish entities.

The game aims to capture the found-footage nature of the source material and even provides a camera to help with visibility. The best part about it though, is the dense atmosphere dripping with dread. Oh, and the dog too, of course, who can be stroked and scratched behind the ears for comfort after a jumpscare.

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2) Transformers: Devastation

Produced by none other than Platinum Games of Bayonetta and NieR: Automata fame, Devastation is easily the best Transformers title out there. The bold visual style and character design takes after the Generations series and looks authentically so with cel-shaded visuals. The narrative follows the Autobots trying to keep the Decepticons from transforming Earth into a new Cybertron.

Sure, it is visibly lacking in the budget department and that's evident with the repeated level design, enemies and assets, but that doesn't slow down the game's action at all. It plays like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, including the former's slow motion mechanic on executing a perfect dodge.

Unfortunately, the game is no longer available for purchase - none of the Activision-published ones are - due to their contract with Hasbro expiring. A shame, as this is a must buy for both Transformers and Platinum fans.

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3) The Wolf Among Us

Telltale Games are no newbies to the gaming industry, so it's somewhat surprising that 2013's The Wolf Among Us flew under so many people's radars. It acts as a prequel to Billy Willingham's Fables comic books. The series stars various fairy tale characters (referring to themselves as Fables) all living in an area of New York City known as Fabletown.

The Wolf Among Us follows Sheriff Bigby Wolf (based off of several tales, like Red Riding Hood's sly wolf) investigating a series of murders around town. Gameplay is standard Telltale fare with 3D exploration dialog choices and QTEs.

What makes this one of the studio's best works is the gripping twists and turns that the narrative takes. It's also great to see gritty renditions of the usually wholesome bedtime characters, like Bigby's investigative partner Snow White or one of the Three Little Pigs.

It is also getting a new entry in the future.

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4) Ghostbusters (2009)

Released in 2009 for various consoles, Ghostbusters: The Video Game takes place two years after 1989's Ghostbusters II. It follows a rookie Ghostbuster in tow with three members of the original cast (even voiced by actors from the original movie). They must traverse around New York hunting down ghosts that were summoned due to a mysterious psi energy pulse.

The gameplay is akin to a third-person shooter where the player is armed with various ghostbusting gadgets, like the Proton Pack. There are different kinds of enemies to overcome, from floating phantoms to more humanoid entities.

There are also puzzle elements utilizing aspects like the slime shooting mechanic for progression. Ghostbusters received a remaster in 2019 for PC, PS4, XB1 and Switch

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5) Alice: Madness Returns

American McGee is a big name in the first-person shooter (FPS) community, particularly his work as a designer for DOOM and Quake. He eventually formed his own studio Spicy Horse and created a little-known action game called Alice: Madness Returns.

Acting as a sequel to his original American McGee's Alice, which was more of a platform third-person shooter, Madness Returns takes things down a different path.

It is a psychological horror hack & slash - don't get to see it that often. It is also a dark take on Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderlands. Except here, Alice is orphaned after her family dies in a fire and is relocated to an orphanage for the traumatized. As a coping mechanism, she conjures up the Wonderlands but in a twisted manner as she navigates through to help herself learn about her past.

Combat is akin to many others in the genre, like God of War. Alice has access to half a dozen weapons from melee, like a horse-headed hammer to long range, like the Pepper Grinder acting like a machine gun.

Enemies feature grotesque recreations of Wonderlands denizens, like the card soldiers. Friendly NPCs like the eerie cat Chesire also makes a comeback. All in all, it is a cool experience for fans of character-action games.

On a related note, McGee is hard at work for a third entry, titled Alice: Asylum.

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